No surprises when reading the article and what is between the lines. Love the bit about the AFP failing to provide information requested by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, despite being clearly within the legislative requirements… and people on this forum still think that the AFP, on occasion, don’t respond to legitimate issues raised by citizens? now THAT would be being in denial!

Hdopler – I’d really just chalk this one up to experience. Just because you have reported what you feel is inadequate policing by stat dec doesn’t make it so. I definitely doesn’t make a trend.

Note that I’m not saying you don’t have a legitimate complaint. I don’t know what happened; but that’s rather beside the point.

Your assumption that the stats are manipulated are coloured by your personal frame of reference. I got burgled a couple of years ago and started to see crime everywhere till I shook myself out of it and remembered that one break-in does not a crime wave make.

A sample of you and your brother in law feeling that crime is increasing may be data, but it’s not information. “Community Feeling” that there’s more crime around these days is a combination of things – a rose-coloured view of the past (things were better back in the day) the general sense that things are going to hell in a handbasket (nothing new there) and our complete (and very human) inability to derive actual risk from experience. “Community Feeling” is an astoundingly bad barometer of what actual risks or changes in risks are at work.

We really do have it good in Canberra. It would be nice to share that with the people that don’t have it so good. Instead we stigmatise and marginalise them.

You’re always a breath of fresh air, dexi. Simple, honest and actually recognising the fact that other human beings exist and are important. Thanks for posting that (and all the similar posts elsewhere).

You’re arguing that crime rates are rising – contradicting the evidence of actual reported statistics – because (wait for it) you had a personal experience in which a crime was unacknowledged.

It can’t get any clearer than that. Surely even you must recognise that you’re peddling a truly ludicrous line of argument.

Statistical sampling is extremely important – at the moment, your sample group consists of you and your brother in law. I’d hazard to say that it’s not extensive enough to base anything on apart from a summary survey of people who spend too much time spreading uninformed views.

Starting to bang on about how ‘the figures must be manipulated’ doesn’t really do much but paint you as a loon.

Come on, buddy. When you’re in a hole, stop digging. You really are starting to come off as both deluded and self-absorbed.

My experience would be, its the same old crime at the same old level. You are more likely to know who has stolen from you. Outside is a safe place to be in Canberra.

Ive always thought the police in Canberra are one of the most professional and understanding in Australia. You should see some of the inner Sydney police behavior. Having said that Ive been frustrated with them too. They really don’t want to know sometimes. This may lead to the apathy people have about reporting stuff.

We really do have it good in Canberra. It would be nice to share that with the people that don’t have it so good. Instead we stigmatise and marginalise them.

My personal experience is not an ‘anecdote’ – it was transcribed into a statutory declaration along with photo’s related to the incident, for the ombudsman; do you know anything about legal process? that is evidence. As for the feeling in the community, are not polls when properly conducted regarded as evidence? is not statistical sampling a staple of policy making, psychology, social science and indeed, even climate change research? are you saying this is not evidence? (of a form)

Just because my experience differs from yours doesn’t make it any less relevant, so how about you use your brain for a moment and take a step back: how are the performance bonuses, (if any) of senior AFP (Canberra related) officers determined? Legitimate question for which I have no answer. Also, you failed to answer the following:

Who audits the police response to complaints and who audits the crime statistics? are they are arms length from the police themselves?

These are indeed important issues. Australian political and bureaucratic history is littered with the manipulation of information and statistics to benefit a small group of people or to maintain the illusion that everything is A-OK in regards to a particular issue, i find it highly amusing that you seem to assume police statistics would be any different to say, the manipulation of what constitutes an ‘on-time’ train in the city rail measurements, at least that was uncovered under FOI much to the behest of the Carr government at the time… do you STILL maintain that government agencies NEVER engage in the manipulation of information to present a certain scenario to the public? If so… well, if you can’t say anything nice….

On being presented with the fact that crime stats are either stable or falling, you choose to discount the evidence rather than alter your belief that crime rates are rising: that’s textbook paranoid thought – ignoring evidence because it doesn’t fit your (hallucinatory) world-view.

So you are ignoring evidence – both my personal testimony and the feeling in the community that crime is rising – and discounting it rather than altering you belief that crime rates are stable: that’s also textbook paranoid thought, in this case you are ignoring evidence and testimony that doesn’t fit with your delusion world-view.

We could go on like that for hours, but what’s the point? I don’t trust the official statistics, and, based on my personal experience as well as that of, for example, my brother-in-law (in a separate incident) I have every reason to believe that crime in this city is either (a) under-reported (b) ignored when presented to the police either of which result in the statistics being manipulated either by the communities apathy or the police themselves. Who audits the police response to complaints and who audits the crime statistics? are they are arms length from the police themselves? This is not paranoid thought, this is asking hard questions based on personal experience, which, for the record, the ombudsman was at first very reluctant to act upon, but was since very helpful. Needless to say, informal (verbal) feedback indicated that my experience, and that of my brother-in-law may not be isolated incidents.

On being presented with the fact that crime stats are either stable or falling, you choose to discount the evidence rather than alter your belief that crime rates are rising: that’s textbook paranoid thought – ignoring evidence because it doesn’t fit your (hallucinatory) world-view.

Sorry Jim I know what you are saying. I love the crime in the newspaper. Its what I read first, then the prostitute adds. I’m always disappointed with the lack of good juicy crime stories and funny hooker adds. If we had more creativity, it would make the CT a longer more satisfying read.

I find it extremely telling that so many commentors on RiotAct keep talking about how crime in Canberra ‘keeps getting worse’ and lots of similar lines about how we’re ‘being overrun by druggies/prostitutes/criminals’ etc. When in actual fact the crime statistics are either unchanging or actually falling.
.

What does that really tell us? nothing. It tells us that the reported and published statistics say nothing has changed, but could it be that crime is simply not report, or when it is, it is ignored by the police? I have personally experienced being told by a police officer that a particular crime i had reported (with witnesses not related to myself) would not be followed up or logged. I won’t say anymore other than I was both shocked and amazed, and this has led me to seriously question the validity of the statistics we are presented. that said, yes the media do beat things up and that is another major problem in society: falling media standards.

It’s our motor car addiction that will be the undoing of us. Illegal Drugs are small fry. Drug reform is for drug users and their families. You will still be left with the twats who just want to cause trouble.

Canberra has some long established drug dealers. They are home grown. They purchase the drugs from other states. I would rather the devil I know. When my dealer died, I lost a friend.

Amendments to give renters more rights have passed the Legislative Assembly. It will be easier for renters to keep a pet, make minor modifications to their rental property, and to break a lease without incurring significant costs https://t.co/UG9YEv9ilQ(7 hours ago)